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Powerful blast, then pools of blood: Eyewitnesses

Mumbai: There was a deafening blast and then people were lying injured on the road… that was the account by eyewitnesses at the sites of the three powerful explosions that rocked congested areas of Mumbai Wednesday evening.

The blasts took place in three areas of south Mumbai – near Kabutarkhana in Dadar (W), Zaveri Bazar and Opera House, the jewellery hubs of Mumbai.

Sadashiv Kamble, a shop owner from Dadar, said he heard a loud explosion and first thought it was a cylinder blast, but later realised it was much more serious and ran for life.

Another eyewitness from Dadar said when he first heard the blast he was trying to gauge the situation and then realised it was a bomb explosion.

“I heard a loud explosion. And then I saw people with serious injuries lying in pools of blood,” he said.

The three blasts left at least 13 people dead and over 100 injured.

At least six injured people were rushed to nearby hospitals from the blast site at Kabutarkhana in Dadar west in the evening peak hour when the locality was packed with people.

In Zaveri Bazar, the blast occurred in the famous Khau Gully, which is full of people having their favourite snacks before catching local trains to go home.

An eyewitness, Datatray Jadhav from Zaveri Bazar, said they first heard a loud explosion and rushed to find a girl grievously injured. “A girl and another man were seriously injured. We put them both in a police van and sent them to the hospital,” he said.

“Two others were also injured, however, not as serious. I helped them get into a taxi and reach a nearby medical centre,” he said.

At Opera House, near Charni Road rail station, the blast took place in a building where many diamond and gold jewellery firms are located.

He was sitting in his hardware shop in the crowded Dadar area of central Mumbai Wednesday evening when Chirag Shah heard a sound and came out. A building was rattling and people were running helter-skelter.

“I was at my shop when I heard a deafening sound. I ran out to see what has happened. I saw a building rattling and people running here and there,” Shah, who owns a hardware shop just 100 metres from the blast site, told agency.

“First I was confused whether it was a bomb blast or a cylinder blast in an Esteem (car) parked near the bus stop, close to a Hanuman temple. Later it was confirmed as a bomb blast,” he added.

India’s financial and entertainment capital was jolted by three serial blasts in Dadar, Opera House and Zaveri Bazar evening, killing 13 and injuring nearly 100.

The 26-year-old also revealed that as soon as the blast took place, panic broke in the area.

“There was panic in the area. Everyone was taken aback. They just started running to save their lives. It was a very scary situation. We were told two women and a man died and some were injured. Now the area is cleared and cordoned off by the police. Traffic is diverted to another route,” he said